


Gift You With My Life

by SpaghettiCanActivist



Category: Naruto
Genre: Assisted Suicide, Big Sister Sakura, Big brother Sasuke, Dai-nana-han | Team 7 (Naruto) Feels, Gen, Suicide Attempt, Team Bonding, Team as Family
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-05
Updated: 2018-09-04
Packaged: 2019-07-07 03:11:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,614
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15899712
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SpaghettiCanActivist/pseuds/SpaghettiCanActivist
Summary: AU, major AU. Naruto was eight when he passed the exam to become genin, the Hokage lying about his age to protect him from those who could find out his identity as Minato’s son. In this storyline, Naruto sees Sasuke like an older brother and successfully brings Sasuke back from the Valley of Fallen Kings. Tsunade is Hokage now, and Naruto is aware of the Akatsuki. Naruto believes he can protect his village if he dies along with the Jinchuuriki. He tells Sasuke to kill him so that he can get the Mangekyou Sharingan.





	Gift You With My Life

“I-I always thought of you like a big brother,” Naruto stuttered out, tears in his eyes.

Sasuke could only blankly look at Naruto, overwhelmed by everything that was happening. Naruto bit his lip and shifted from where he was kneeling on the hard earth. 

“I pretended, like we were a family, that Sakura was like a big sister and Kakashi-sensei was like a dad, and you were-”

Naruto fell short and stared at the ground. Sasuke felt like he couldn’t breath, mind still struggling to understand exactly what was happening.

“You’ll take care of them?” Naruto asked, earnest blue eyes staring into Sasuke’s.

Sasuke’s hands were trembling and his feet and legs were numb from where the small forest rocks and twigs dug into his skin.

“You will, won’t you?” Naruto asked again, desperately.

Sasuke nodded quickly, voice tight. He wanted to kill Itachi so bad, his whole life focused on that one event, but here and now it was a distant far away pull. He opened his mouth, wanting to speak and say something, anything.

“Hai,” he said hoarsely.

Naruto nodded, head lowering. The kunai sat on the ground between them, poised between the six inches of dirt that gaped between their knees. Sasuke couldn’t bring himself to grab it, to fit it into his hand. Naruto did it for him, little hands surprisingly steady as they pressed the weapon into the older boy’s shaking palms.

Sasuke stared at it, hands slick with sweat. He curled his fingers around the handle and what should’ve been a steady weight of reassurance and protection in his hand was a terrifying imbalance of his world. Sasuke grit his teeth, this was what he wanted, it was for the safety of the village, everyone would be better off. The last part of that thought rang a discordant sound in him.

“It’s okay, Sasuke,” Naruto said, eyes reassuring, “it’ll be better for everyone.”

Naruto nodded his head as he spoke, as if to reassure the boy opposite him. Naruto grabbed Sasuke’s hands and guided the kunai so it was poised to strike Naruto’s middle. Sasuke clenched his eyes shut and he felt Naruto tug, and he instinctively began applying force so that the kunai sunk into the stomach of the blonde. There was a shuddering gasp and the small hands wrapped around Sasuke’s fell lax and the child tipped forward. Sasuke caught him, cradling him in his arms.

“Naruto?” Sasuke whispered.

Naruto’s eyes were glazed over and he was smiling. Blood was pouring from Naruto’s wound, seeping into the orange cloth and dying it a tenebrous red.

“Niii-chan?” Naruto gasped out, tears that had been shuddering in his eyes for so long starting to fall. Sasuke startled at the word he had so often used in a life far away.

“I’m scared,” Naruto whispered.

And suddenly everything that had made so much logical sense made no sense at all. Everything that mattered was fading away in front of Sasuke’s eyes and he had to do something about it.

 

Two Hours Before

Naruto was swinging his feet from where he was perched on his chair; sandals kicking the air while his hands fidgeted in his lap. He was staring nervously at the room around him. He was seated in the Hokage’s spacious office, with its domed roof and rounded walls. Tsunade was standing, both hands placed on her desk and her shoulders hunched aggressively. The room was filled with an assortment of people.

They’d been arguing for a while. Naruto looked at the ground glumly, only half listening to the conversation. It had been the same thing for several months now, discussion after discussion on the Akatsuki and all of the Jinchuuriki. The question was what to do with Naruto and how to protect the shinobi world from the Akatsuki gaining the power of the Kyuubi. Naruto was present at some of the meetings, the eight year old sitting while a bunch of people discussed his fate.

“No!” Tsunade yelled, fist pounding the table causing a large, ominous cracking sound. The desk was still standing but several shinobi were eyeing it nervously while Shizune looked like she was barely holding herself back from rushing to the desk’s aid.

“Naruto stays in the village! I’m not sending him off under some other shinobi’s protection! He is a member of this village and as such the village will side by him.”

Naruto gave a small smile, he loved it when Tsunade spoke about him like that, like he mattered so much. A frown quickly replaced it though at the next comment.

“And have the Akatsuki destroy the village? One of their members took down an elite ninja with ease, imagine what the entire group would do to our village.”

Naruto didn’t want to endanger the village.There was a derisive scoff from a ninja in the corner of the room. 

“What would we be protecting anyways? Exchanging a monster for the lives of people? We should just kill him.”

A flare of chakra rushed through the room, the sannin staring furiously at the man who had spoken. The desk gave another groaning creak, it’s death sigh, before a resounding crack echoed in the room and the desk toppled.

“Lady Tsunade!”

Shizune was holding her hokage by the arm, keeping the woman from charging the man. Shizune whispered a few words and Tsunade stopped, shaking her attendant’s hands from where they were gripping her arm.

“I will kill the next shinobi who dares to suggest anything like that. What kind of cowards would stand back and let a child fight their battles?”

The room was quiet as Tsunade stomped back over to her desk. She waved a hand, her back to the occupants of the room.

“We’ll continue this meeting later,” the cold fury was still in her voice and it made the shinobi flee.

“Not you Nara, I want to speak with you, and you too Hatake.”

The two stayed, both looking anxious to face their hokage. Tsunade turned and saw Naruto, his eyes wide and scared. Immediately her face softened and she crouched down next to the nine year old. She remembered so clearly the courageous face of the eight year old she had met and been inspired by several months earlier. Now the boy appeared hesitant and unsure. 

Tsunade smiled gently at him. “I won’t let anything bad happen to you, Naruto.”

Naruto nodded his head and Tsunade smiled, petting the boy’s head several times. Tsunade stood. He was still so young and yet he had met much hardship and would continue to do so. Tsunade turned to face the two shinobi. The thin scarecrow with his towering head of silver hair and the tactical genius with those large scars etched across his face. Both were loyal and both were astute ninja.

Tsunade let out a weary sigh and folded her arms across her chest. Few women could claim to have a presence of power like Tsunade did, one that was felt by all that met her. Now was no different.

“Shizune,” Tsunade called.

The medic-nin stepped forward.

“Escort Naruto out.”

Shizune nodded, moving over to the eight year old who slipped from his chair. She took his hand, and in unusual behavior he allowed her, blue eyes briefly glancing at Tsunade and Kakashi in trepidation.

Naruto watched the door click shut.

“Would you like to go get some ramen, Naruto-kun?” Shizune was smiling down at him but Naruto shook his head.

Shizune’s lips turned down, worry creasing her brows and pulling frown lines across her face. Naruto never refused ramen. She pursed her lips, thinking of what she could do. 

“Shizune-san!”

Shizune turned to face the jounin who was approaching her. He began spouting off about an incident at the hospital that required her immediate attention. Shizune answered him, promising to be there to attend to it. He left and Shizune turned to Naruto, she crouched down and patted his cheek. His head had been hanging low, chin pressing to his chest. Shizune felt her heart squeeze at how dejected the boy looked.

“Can you get home by yourself okay?”

Naruto nodded, not making eye contact. “Hai.”

Shizune bit her lip, wanting to do something to get rid of the despondency in the usually sunny child.

“Alright, stay out of trouble, okay, Naruto-kun.” Shizune stood and walked away, glancing back at Naruto as she rounded the corner.

Naruto sighed and found himself filled with the unfamiliar feeling of uncertainty. The kyuubi had been a source of troubling thought for him, the greatest insecurity in his head. It equal parts terrified him and made him depressed. Despite the reassurances of Tsunade, he couldn’t help but feel like he was the beast. In the nine year old’s underdeveloped cognitive process, Naruto meant nine-tailed monster, and no matter how Tsunade said it she wasn’t going to overcome eight years of verbal abuse and isolation.

Naruto’s lip trembled and he resolutely bit down on it to control his emotions. An evil organisation wanted to use the nine-tails for something, and Naruto was pretty sure any and every evil organisation had world domination in mind, at least that was how the movies portrayed it. He fingered the hem of his shirt and an inexplicable amount of self loathing filled him. It was lonely, a vast space of empty years all alone, accused of being a monster and now, to have it reinforced by a very real and very dangerous situation. He hated who he was, he wished he was any other person than Naruto Uzumaki.

Naruto had lived without comfort for so long that he often rejected it, not that it was often offered, but Tsunade had a way of hugging him, patting his head, smiling, and sometimes even just picking him up. Pervy sage was as hands off as possible and Kakashi, well, Naruto wondered often if Kakashi even liked him or not, the man seemed apathetic at best. At the moment he desired that comfort and with tentative steps, not fully realizing his desire, he walked back toward the Hokage’s room. He hesitated at the door, consciously hiding his chakra signature in a nervous thought of if Tsunade would be mad.

He opened the door silently and peeked in. Tsunade, Shikaku and Kakashi were all facing a map, Tsunade gesturing to it.

“I want to send out some scouts to this area, if we can get an idea of where the Akatsuki are going to come from we might have a chance at stopping them before they get to the village.”

Kakashi said nothing and Shikaku let out a sigh and spoke in his composed drawl.

“The Akatsuki are made up of the Bingo book’s worst missing nin, all S-rank. It would be, difficult,” he ended there, obviously still mulling over the difficult puzzle before him.

“Look, I know,” Tsunade sounded upset and Naruto frowned, staying at the door.

“This isn’t easy. But, what other choice do we have?” Tsunade said desperately, hands clenched.

Kakashi spoke next, hands tucked in his pockets and slouching from where he was standing.

“We’ll need to prepare for a high death count, and even with the entire village fighting, we don’t know all of who the Akatsuki are. Jiraiya’s sources haven’t given us that.”

Naruto felt his heart sink at the words ‘high death count’. Ducking out of the room, he felt even worse than he had earlier. He headed home, skipping along the roofs in misery. Once in his apartment he automatically went to start ramen, but stopped, not in the mood.

He froze, staring at the teapot in hand. People were going to die, because of him. Everything he wanted, to be Hokage, to protect people precious to him, it would be impossible. The only way the Akatsuki would leave Konoha alone was if he wasn’t in Konoha. Naruto shook his head and sat down on his old couch, wrapping his arms around his knees. But if he ran away, the Akatsuki would inevitably get him and the world would be in danger. Naruto clenched his eyes shut, wanting to scream in frustration. What could he do?

The thought occurred to him, that if he wasn’t around, as in not in this world, the Akatsuki wouldn’t be able to get the kyuubi and Konoha would be safe. The thought sunk in with morbid speed, holding fast. As he considered it, he weighed the pros and cons. Dead, he would be able to meet his mom and dad, as Iruka had explained, all their family was waiting for them in the afterlife. And wouldn’t they be so proud to hear about how he saved the village? Naruto would get to be with his family, happy and loved--something he had never had-- and besides, who would miss him?

Naruto’s heart ached as he thought of all the people precious to him and what they thought of him. Sakura found him annoying and was always hitting him and insulting him and yelling at him, she’d probably congratulate him on doing himself in. Kakashi would probably shrug at the news, a slight relief coming to him at the jinchuuriki problem being dealt with. Jiraiya would probably rejoice, no longer having to put up with Naruto constantly hounding him, the man would be able to write his books in peace. Tsunade might be a little upset, but she would get over it, especially when she figured out that he was protecting the village. Iruka might also be a little bothered, but the man was also always reprimanding him and telling him how much he cost him and that he needed to do better. Shizune would probably be upset too, but she would be like Tsunade and get over it quickly. Sasuke, that one was more difficult, before everything in the valley he would’ve been sure Sasuke would’ve jumped for joy to hear of his death, but now, well he knew that Sasuke cared about him, he just wasn’t sure how much. The older boy cared the most about defeating Itachi, that he was sure of. Naruto frowned, pondering this final person.

Then it clicked, he had overheard an interesting conversation between Kakashi and Sasuke, it had been weird and something called a mangy gecko, or something like that had been discussed. Naruto didn’t really understand, but he had caught two important things, that the mangy gecko was something Sasuke really, really wanted which would help him defeat his brother and that the only way to get it was to kill your best friend. Naruto had been horrified on hearing about it, he would never be able to do that, it was terrible to think that that was a way to gain power, but now, it was seeming to appear as a perfect way for Naruto to both save the people he loved and give someone he saw as his big brother a gift. Maybe, at the end of it, his sensei would be proud of him and people would remember him as something more than a demon. Getting up from the couch, Naruto headed out to find Sasuke.

 

Present Time

Sasuke was freaking out, Naruto’s eyes had slipped shut and his breathing was ragged. Sasuke felt terror course through him. Naruto was going to die. His little brother was going to die. Cruel, cruel irony coursed through him. He’d done the evil even Itachi hadn’t lowered himself to, he’d murdered the person he held closest to his heart, his little brother.

Pain spiked in his eyes and Sasuke screamed, bending over with a hand clutching his face, the other still holding Naruto. It didn’t last long and faded. Sasuke straightened, gasping for air after the intense pain. He glanced down at Naruto, the boy was fading fast. Gathering Naruto in his arms he stood up. He had to save him, he had to save Naruto. Sasuke took off, traveling as fast as he could from the tree topped area of the Hokage monument, the hospital was just minutes away, he could make it, he could save Naruto.

The scent of blood was heavy and permeated his senses, making his stomach turn. He landed on a ledge, and then hesitated. What healer would help Naruto right now? He knew that the one’s who had healed him before were a woman whose name he couldn’t recall and the Hokage herself. Without sparing a second thought, he turned to the tower and jumped in through a window. The secretary looked up in startlement, letting out a gasp of surprise. Sasuke ignored her and raced to the Hokage’s door, kicking it open.

 

The meeting had run long, the hours stretching by as Tsunade spent time discussing the resources of the village, time frames, loss of life and a multitude of other things. She had a headache coming on and she could see that both Kakashi and Shikaku were growing weary also. She was about to call an end to it when the door burst open. Turning with anger on her face at the interruption she felt her mind stutter to a halt.

That Uchiha boy was standing there, Naruto draped in his arms with blood adorning his entire midsection. A second passed and she recognized the Mangekyou sharingan swirling in the boys eyes. Anger, complete anger and desperation took over. Racing over she wrenched Naruto from his arms, laying the child on the floor. The damage was, Tsunade turned her mind from it, it wasn’t good. Tsunade paled, but the part of her that was a medic nin took over.

“Shikaku, get Shizune, now.”

The man was wide eyed in surprise at the development, also taking in the Mangekyou sharingan. He quickly put two and two together and left in a flash. Sasuke stumbled forward, a blood stained hand reaching for Naruto.

“Stay back!” Tsunade snarled, not wanting the thirteen year old anywhere near her precious person.

Sasuke halted but didn’t back away, staring in shock down at Naruto. Tsunade began healing, hands glowing green. Sasuke took a hesitant step forward.

“Get him out of here, Kakashi!” 

She didn’t watch as Kakashi lead the boy away. The only thing that mattered was the fragile life that lay beneath her hands. A drop of water landed on her hand and she realized with unattached senses that it was a tear drop, she was crying.

 

 

One Hour Earlier

Sasuke wasn’t at the training grounds. Naruto looked around and then headed for the other area set aside for training. Sasuke wasn’t there either. Finally, in exasperation, Naruto headed to the Uchiha compound. It was an eerie place, buildings that were unkempt and empty. He knew which house Sasuke stayed at.

“What are you doing here, dobe?”

Naruto turned around and managed an unpleasant grimace. He didn’t answer, nervous about how exactly to approach Sasuke. Saying outright that he wanted Sasuke to help him commit suicide seemed too blase, even for him.

“What’s wrong?” Sasuke stepped closer and surveyed Naruto with blank eyes.

Ever since the Valley of the End, Sasuke had been kinder. Naruto was fiddling with the hem of his shirt again.

“I-I need to ask you something, but I gotta explain a few things first.”

Sasuke nodded, continuing to watch Naruto for a few moments before he turned toward his house. Naruto plodded after him. Naruto’s company wasn’t really wanted at the moment, Sasuke had been feeling frustrated with the lack of progression recently. Since his return, Kakashi had greatly reduced his training with him, trust had been broken which wasn’t easily being restored. He had wanted to go with Orochimaru for power, somehow the little dobe behind him had convinced him that he would find more power in Konoha, that of course wasn’t the complete truth of why he had come back, but Sasuke was a literal existence of denial. Still, he was finding it difficult trying to train on his own, especially now that the curse mark had been removed by the sannin. How was he supposed to defeat Itachi without power?

Sasuke knelt at the table and Naruto knelt down near him. He looked expectantly at the boy.

“Do-do you know about the nine-tails?”

Sasuke was thrown by the question. He vaguely remembered the event, he had been four so most of it was kind of blurry now.

“Hai.”

“Well,” Naruto’s hands were now effectively twined and twisted in his shirt.

“I’m, I’m the nine-tails, I mean, it’s in me and there are, well it could be used, by some really evil people to hurt Konoha.”

Sasuke blinked, thrown off even more by what Naruto had said.

“I know you need a-a mangy gecko,” Naruto stumbled over the word.

Sasuke took a moment to interpret exactly what a mangy gecko was, he froze when he realized Naruto was talking about the Mangekyou sharingan. Desire filled him, a dark lust for power overtaking his mind.

“I want to give it to you,” Naruto said, looking up at Sasuke with imploring eyes.

Give it to him? Did Naruto mean-Sasuke hesitated.

“The village, it’ll be attacked and if I’m gone that won’t happen. We could protect everyone and you could beat your brother, you could be happy. And I wanna do this, with or without you.”

The full implications hit Sasuke, Naruto was asking him to kill him.

 

 

Present Time

Sasuke didn’t feel the large hand which wrapped around his arm and pulled him from the room, his entire being stuck on the blonde figure stretched out on the floor. The door shut behind them and Kakashi drew Sasuke to the side, pushing the boy against the wall. Sasuke stared at the ground, tears now starting to form in his eyes as he realized what he had done.

Kakashi looked furious, anger seeping from him in the form of killing intent, something he had never directed at his students.

“I will let you explain one time, make sure it is sufficient because I do not have patience right now.”

Sasuke finally looked up, and Kakashi took in the state of shock Sasuke was in.

“He-he called me nii-chan and I-” Sasuke’s voice broke and tears poured down his face.

Kakashi stepped back and Sasuke sunk to the floor, staring at his hands. Perceptive as always, Kakashi realized that something had happened, this was something more than just a brutal attack and it would need at some point a full explanation. 

“I hurt him, when I promised to protect him” Sasuke sobbed, burying his face in his hands.

Kakashi’s gaze grew sorrowful and he took another step back. He watched Sasuke break down, mind thinking of the hard cruel fact of pain in the world of the shinobi.

 

Naruto’s condition was critical, something which made it so Tsunade brought the hospital to Naruto rather than Naruto to the hospital. Shizune had arrived within minutes and Tsunade had begun barking out orders, Shizune had complied promptly. Now, Naruto was on a medical table in the room, three healing nin surrounding him, both Shizune and Tsunade included. Some vital organs had been damaged, something which was taking time to fix. Now though, the boy was more stable, though the next few hours would be telling to his survival. 

Several other medic nin stood at hand, waiting to help as needed.

News spread quickly enough and Tsunade heard a yell from outside the room which she ignored, too focused on saving Naruto’s life.

 

 

Sakura wasn’t perfect, she was well aware of this, it was something she drilled into herself. But she was happy to acknowledge her extensive knowledge of subjects, the Mangekyou sharingan was one of them. She knew what it was, relatively, and how one acquired it. A most interesting history lesson had gone into it, if vaguely, and she had of course studiously adhered herself to learning it. Now though, as she looked uncertainly at Kiba, she felt the faraway concept of the mangekyou suddenly become very important.

“What?” She asked, throat dry.

“Naruto was hurt real bad from the looks of it, he was with Sasuke and Sasuke’s eyes looked really weird. I thought you’d want to know, since you’re a part of team seven afterall.”

Sakura shook her head. After Sasuke had returned, things had been strained. Needless to say a lot of her adoration had vanished, replaced with caring about her teammate but not trusting him. It would be weird to voice it, but she cared more for Naruto than she did for Sasuke. What she saw as being cool she now identified as unattached and emotionally stinted, to a dangerous and selfish degree. Sasuke had almost gotten five people killed because of power. She still cared about him, he was her teammate, and she still found him attractive.

“You better not be screwing with me Kiba,” Sakura said harshly.

Akamaru let out a soft growl and circled his master, whimpering.

“I’m not screwing with you, okay, tch, I don’t even need to be telling you this,” he started to walk away in a huff.

“Wait, wait, I’m sorry, I believe you,” Sakura called after him, running to catch up.

Kiba stopped and turned, his annoyance still evident on his face.

“Can you tell me where they were headed?”

“Towards the Hokage tower,” Kiba answered with a shrug.

He whistled and Akamaru jumped on his shoulder, the two walking away.

Sakura frowned and began making her way toward the tower, she still wasn’t entirely sure if Kiba was just messing with her. She didn’t trust the dog boy. Going down the hallway she was surprised to see few ninja. Then she stepped into the room outside the Hokage’s office. Kakashi was by a wall, Sasuke sitting on the ground blood covering him. Kakashi almost seemed like he was guarding Sasuke, or making sure he stayed there. Worried, Sakura moved over.

“Kakashi-sensei? Sasuke?” She asked in confusion.

Sasuke looked up and Sakura gasped. He had the mangekyou sharingan. The implications of it all set in. The only person Sasuke cared about enough for to get it was Naruto.

“Where’s Naruto?” She asked, voice weak.

Sasuke’s gaze fell to the floor looking guilty and full of grief. Sakura looked up at Kakashi, but her sensei had grief on his face too.

“No,” she whispered, stomach swooping. Not Naruto, Sasuke wouldn’t.

Anger then gripped her, replacing the horrible feeling from before.

“You didn’t,” Sakura said.

Sasuke just kept his head bowed.

“You didn’t!” Her face contorted and angry tears began to form.

“You bastard! You bastard, you killed him!” Sakura screamed, surging forward to hurt Sasuke, do anything, to destroy him.

She was still screaming, but Kakashi grasped her shoulder, holding her back. She swung into him, grasping at her sensei as tears poured down her face. She sobbed and Kakashi gently patted her back, Sasuke still sitting with vacant eyes, staring at the floor.

 

 

Hatake Kakashi was a skilled man for his few years, few when compared to a civilian's life span. In shinobi years he was of a considerable age, worn from years of experience and a wisdom knocked hard into his head by the bleakest of circumstances. He knew that Naruto was sitting in the Hokage’s chamber, bleeding and possibly dying, because of the Uchiha sitting on the floor next to him trembling. He also knew that Naruto was there because the boy had made a choice, a choice he'd seen other ninja make and had mourned because of. Ninja who had been driven to it by the lifestyle. 

It hurt, to think that his littlest student felt so unworthy of life to commit this deed. He had failed somewhere, greatly.


End file.
